Home evolved node B (H(e)NB), known also as femtocells, are small, portable access points to 3G networks which are generally placed on the premises or in the homes of stakeholders called a Hosting Party (HP). The H(e)NB becomes a mediator for mobile communication and services in a small, designated geographic area. The H(e)NB may be used to provide mobile services in hitherto inaccessible areas (due to bad radio conditions) such as in-house or factory environments. It is also an option for private households and the small office home office (SOHO) sector as a H(e)NB may be a unified access point to broadband Internet and mobile networks.
This application may pose specific security requirements. For example, these devices are i) no longer considered as closed, immutable environments for the storage and handling of sensitive data, as mobile handsets have been traditionally viewed; and ii) these special devices are typically not under the direct physical control of the mobile network operator (MNO), who as the H(e)NB's main stakeholder operates the H(e)NB to provide services to the users of mobile communications terminals, and iii) these devices are in general are connected to the core network over an insecure link and in ways that may be intermittent rather than continuous.
Existing or standardized technology of mobile communication networks may not provide methods for the network to fully consider that the H(e)NB that it operates would be trustworthy even if the H(e)NB passes the traditional authentication steps. What is needed, then, is a method that helps the MNO to authenticate as well as validate the trustworthiness, i.e., the integrity, of devices and to manage and provision such devices.